


Coda

by arcaneGash



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Gen, am i seriously the first person to ever use a grotle as a character, explorers of time/darkness spoilers, not meant to be player/partner shipping but if you read it as such that's your prerogative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 19:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12800760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcaneGash/pseuds/arcaneGash
Summary: Not even legendary heroes can withstand the test of time.





	Coda

**Author's Note:**

> i believe this is the first pokemon fic i've written since i was 10
> 
> anyway hey welcome. i've had this sitting on my computer for a while, something i've been working on when i have the itch to write but need a break from my other ongoing fics, and since i can still stand to look at it i figured i might as well post it. this is of course based on my favorite run of pmd darkness and i've become entirely too attached to this trio so should i continue writing and posting pmd stuff they're sure to pop up again.
> 
> as the warning implies this is not a triumphant story but we're all pmd fans here, i promise it's not "i don't want to say goodbye"-level sad

The perpetual mist endemic to Foggy Forest seemed wetter than usual, clinging to the creatures that moved through the undergrowth. Two of them were foreign to this place: a bipedal red lizard, a bag slung around their shoulders, led the way for a green and yellow dinosaur quadruped with live, leafy bushes growing out of their back. The red one squinted through the fog, their tail lashing. An open flame sat atop its tip, unaffected by the mist.

“I don’t get it,” she said dismissively, turning to her partner with a shrug. Her red eyes were triangular, always giving the impression that she was scowling. Her demeanor did nothing to lessen that impression. “We’ve been here a hundred times before. And I’m confident in saying I could do a mission like this in my sleep. Why are you so nervous?”

“I don’t know,” the other creature groaned, tossing a wary look over his shoulder as if expecting something to sneak up on him. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I still feel…weird. You’re sure you can’t use the Dimensional—”

 _“Yes,_ I am sure,” the first said pointedly. “You know I can’t control when it happens. And it’s barely happened since Darkrai. It’s not worth relying on. Let’s just hurry this up.”

The two fell silent as they made their way through the fog, alert and tense. The forest seemed to be mostly deserted, which was odd—enemy Pokemon were normally never this difficult to come across. It was as if something unseen were warding them off.

The green dinosaur gasped out loud, causing his companion to jump and curse. “Riley! I think there’s something over there!”

“What are you talking about? We’re nowhere near the client yet—” She turned to see her partner running off in the opposite direction. “Everest!” she growled, but chased after him, down a long pathway with large, imposing trees lining either side. She came to a screeching halt right behind him at the end of the path, where he was bent down and speaking softly.

“It’s okay, I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”

Riley peered over his back. In front of him was a tiny Pokemon, backed into a corner and trembling. Its fur was blue and black, a mask-like pattern around its eyes. It made eye contact with Riley and squeaked, burying its face in his paws.

“A Riolu,” Everest whispered to Riley behind him. “They’re really rare—and I think he’s lost.”

Riley grunted. “We still have a job to do. Let’s just beam ‘em back to town.”

“We can’t leave him on his own, Riley! I think…” He dropped his voice again. “He’s really young. Too young to be traveling without his mother…and Lucarios aren’t native to anywhere near here. He’s come a long way. By now his mother should’ve noticed he was gone and put out a distress call…something bad happened.”

“You think he’s an orphan?”

“It’s a possibility. Poor thing.” Everest turned to look at his partner with a plea in his eyes. “We have to do more than just get him out of this dungeon!”

“Like what?” Riley crossed her arms. “We’re an exploration team, not a babysitting service. Can’t we just leave him with Chansey until he’s old enough to fend for himself?”

“Chansey cares for eggs, not hatchlings. Dumping a baby Pokemon on her is a lot to ask.”

“We can pay her—she can name her price, even!”

As the older Pokemon argued, the Riolu slowly lifted his head from his paws. Tentatively, he stood up and further approached the dinosaur. The fiery lizard was scary-looking and sounding, but the dinosaur was calmer, and had yet to hurt him. With a chirp he hopped onto his back, clinging to the bushes that sprouted from his armored shell.

“Oh,” Everest said, raising an eyebrow as his passenger clambered around on top of him.

Riley’s mouth twitched. “I think he likes you.”

She glanced up at the treetops, finding the barest glimmer of sunlight through the fog and the thick canopy. “But we don’t have time for this, we’re burning daylight. Can you handle toting him around like that until we figure out what to do with him?”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” Everest said, wiggling to test his range of movement. The young Riolu yawned and curled up on his side, unperturbed by the motion.

“Awesome. Let’s go already!” Riley dashed off, deeper into the forest, vanishing into the mist except for the light of her tail. Everest heaved a sigh and plodded after her, the young Riolu curled up on his back.

-

“Riley?”

He knew she would be out here, atop Sharpedo Bluff. The cliff overlooked miles of ocean and carried the scent of the sea on a cool breeze. Below the cliff’s edge, the stone had been eroded away into a mouth-like opening in the side, with stalagmites and stalactites on the lips of the cave appearing to be teeth. Within the “Sharpedo”’s mouth slumbered Everest, and neither wanted to wake him.

The Lucario approached, seating himself beside the Charizard. She didn’t acknowledge his presence at all, keeping her steely gaze turned out to sea. Her wings were folded against her back, her tail with its omnipresent flame dangling off the edge. She was laced with so many white scars it made her otherwise orange scales look mottled. When she finally did speak, her voice was low and rough.

“I think it’s time we talk about the fate of the team.”

The Lucario winced. He knew this was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier to face.

“I know you’re smart, and you probably already figured it out by now, but I might as well say it outright.” Riley turned to make eye contact, but it only lasted a moment before she averted her gaze again and spoke to the ocean. “If, by some miracle, Everest pulls through…the two of us are retiring. Like he wanted to years ago.” Smoke curled out of her nostrils as she huffed and squeezed her eyes shut. “But I pushed him to keep going because I didn’t want to call it quits, and he refused to leave my side. Idiot. He should have…he…I should have listened. Why didn’t I _listen?”_ She bared her teeth, and the fire on her tail flared for just a moment.

“You couldn’t have known this was going to happen,” the Lucario said, recognizing her anger. Since Everest’s condition had worsened, this happened on a daily basis. “There’s nothing none of us can do about it now, Riley.”

The Charizard growled deep in her throat and exhaled another plume of smoke. “And if he doesn’t make it…I can’t lead the team without him there, Xavier. We founded it together. To continue working without him…I can’t even imagine it.”

“There’s no Team Forestfire without the forest,” agreed Xavier. Riley cracked a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Regardless of what happens, I’m leaving the team,” she said. “According to guild regulations, the team must disband if the leader is no longer able or willing to lead. Team Forestfire will be no more.”

Xavier said nothing. Riley had been correct in saying he had known all of this, but to hear it spoken out loud was an affirmation of his greatest fears.

“I’m sorry to dump all of this on you,” Riley said with a sigh. “I know Everest’s sickness is just as hard on you as it is me. Believe me, if I thought I could handle leading it without him, I would, but…I know I can’t.”

The ocean’s waves crashed against the cliffside.

“You’re free to do whatever you want when the team disbands.  You could retire too, you could take on an apprentice—hell, you could even make your own team. You’re plenty experienced enough that you can bypass the guild entirely. And others will flock to a team led by an ex-Forestfire member, I’m sure of it.”

Xavier nodded along, unable to even pretend to be enthused at the idea. “Where are you going to go?” he asked.

Riley gave a nonchalant shrug. “Figured I’d take a one-way trip to some island somewhere. The farther away and less populated, the better.”

“Really? All the way across the ocean?” Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the dismay out of his voice.

“Yeah. I don’t want anyone to know who or where I am. I want to live out the rest of my days in solitude.”

“That sounds…awful.”

Riley shrugged again. “Not to me. The last thing I want is other people tracking me down, asking about the team and my past…offering their condolences.” She shook her head as if trying to dislodge the idea from her mind.

“But…isn’t there someone you would want to see?”

Riley scowled at the ocean. “Not really. Everyone I knew from the guild is either retired themselves or dead. I haven’t seen any of them in years. You and Everest are all I have now…and soon I won’t have him anymore. There’s no point in sticking around.”

Xavier winced and looked away. A moment later Riley’s head snapped up. “No, wait, I don’t mean—” She gave a growl of annoyance. “Dammit. Nice going, you moron.”

“I get it, Riley.” Xavier forced a smile. “I don’t want to keep you here, where you’d be unhappy. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

“I just don’t want you to watch me die on you too,” Riley murmured, quietly enough that the waves almost swallowed up her voice. “You’ve been orphaned once already, and now Everest is on his deathbed right in front of you.” Her tail curled closer to her, and she caught it in her claws, squeezing it gently. “I just…I thought it might be less cruel to just leave forever. You’d never know when I died.” She sighed, more thin smoke billowing out of her mouth and nose to be scattered by the ocean breeze. “But I understand it feels like I’m abandoning you. I’m sorry I’m a coward.”

“No, I really do get it,” Xavier insisted, scooting a little closer to her. “I mean…I’ll be sad to see you go, but…you need to do what’s best for you. I think you’ve earned it.”

Riley let a wry chuckle escape her. “You’d make a fantastic leader of a team, Xavier. The best the world’s ever seen…other than me, of course.”

Xavier faked another smile, his stomach twisting. He rose to his feet. “I’m gonna go check on Everest.”

Riley absently waved him off with a claw and he stepped away, down the nearby rocky stairs that led into the base. It had seen better days, he thought as he sidestepped a forgotten apple core. It was hard to keep the place tidy with Everest as ill as he was.

The Torterra in question lay upon a mountain of straw near the edge of the cliffside, an enormous silhouette in the moonlight. Once a venerable explorer and skilled battler, he looked to be a shell of his former self, gaunt and frail. The tree that sprouted out of his back had lost nearly all its leaves, and the few that remained were brittle and brown. One eye cracked open at Xavier’s approach.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Xavier said with a wince.

The Torterra closed his eye again. “You didn’t. It’s hard to stay asleep, is all. Don’t worry.”

It was impossible not to worry. Xavier looked around at the base, remembering its glory days with a pang. It didn’t seem all that long ago that the three main members of Forestfire would spend their nights here, swapping stories, planning their next missions. But even without Everest’s illness, Xavier couldn’t ignore that the founding members of the team were getting old. Riley was right, they both should have retired years ago. Xavier, too, wasn’t as young as he used to be. If he were to start his own team, he had a feeling it would be short-lived.

But, like Riley, he didn’t know what life was like without being part of an exploration team. She and Everest had taken him in and taught him everything they knew. And soon he’d be losing them both.

He glanced up to see Everest’s eye following him around the base, and he sighed. “Riley’s quitting the team.”

Everest didn’t really react, but even moving his head took energy that he didn’t have. “I figured,” he said, his voice hoarse. “She’s getting old…don’t tell her I said that.”

Xavier offered him a shaky smile, and Everest further settled into the mound of straw. “I don’t blame her. When she sacrificed herself…when I had to return to the guild without her…it was impossible to focus on the team. I could barely even get myself up in the morning, let alone do missions without her by my side. I don’t wish that on her. I’d never wish that on anyone.”

“Well, she won’t have to do that anyway,” Xavier said, trying to exude a confidence he didn’t have. “When you get better, you and Riley are going to retire together, remember?” Riley had insisted that the two of them stay positive, keep Everest’s spirits high. She was convinced that if he knew how bad it was, he’d give up and thus lose all potential for recovery.

There was a profound weariness in Everest’s eyes as he replied, “Xavier…I appreciate your optimism, but the question is no longer ‘if,’ it’s ‘when.’ I’m not going to get better. You know it, I know it, Riley knows it. I’m just glad she’s finally preparing for the inevitable.” He paused, quietly coughing with his mouth closed. “What are you going to do?”

“I…I don’t know,” Xavier said, dropping his eyes to the floor. He’d only been asking that question of himself for weeks.

“Let me rephrase. What do you _want_ to do?” Everest was still carefully watching him. “Knowing Riley, she’s been pressuring you to keep the legacy of the team alive. Her and her one-track mind.” He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah,” Xavier admitted, shuffling his feet. “But I think I’d rather just…travel. Even with all the missions we’ve done across the continent, I still feel like I’ve been insulated here. There must be other things worth seeing, elsewhere.”

“That’s a noble goal,” Everest said with a smile. His beak prevented him from actually doing so, but it was implicit in his tone. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so grounded here, too…but there isn’t a flying or swimming Pokemon on this earth that would want to haul around a giant lug like me.” He chuckled, but the humor was lost on Xavier.

Everest continued a moment later, “It’s pretty late. You should try and get some sleep.”

What he really meant was that he was tired and wanted to sleep himself, but Xavier found himself worn out, too. He crept away, toward another mound of straw on the other side of the room. There was a third, too, slightly larger than the one he chose, but Riley didn’t tend to sleep here in the base anymore. “Good night, Everest,” he said as he settled himself down in the pile of straw.

“Sleep well, Xavier,” the Torterra’s raspy voice came from the darkness. But even the soothing sounds of the ocean couldn’t lull him to sleep like it normally did, and he lay awake for hours, wishing things were different.

-

Everest passed in his sleep shortly after.

That night, Xavier followed Riley to the shoreline. The moonlight glittered off the rolling waves, the world silent except for the tide. Xavier had always found the beach peaceful, a good place to meditate or even practice some of his moves. But that had all been back when he was younger, when gray fur wasn’t sprouting on his muzzle, when Riley was a little less mottled with scars, when Everest was…

He turned to the Charizard in front of him, who was flexing her wings as if she were unsure they still worked. The light from the flame on her tail gave definition to the grains of sand beneath her, and he could see the strap of the bag across her back, slung around her wings. Words formed on his tongue and dissolved just as quickly.

They couldn’t stand out here all night, but he didn’t want to be the one to break the silence. He watched her head turn from right to left, like she feared they were being watched. But Riley didn’t fear anything…or so he’d thought so long ago.

“This is where he found me,” she said at last. Something was weird about her voice—she was always gruff, but right now its roughness was too intense to be natural. “Both times. It seems like a lifetime ago…I guess it was.”

She gave a low huff of laughter, but bowed her head. Her flame diminished. Xavier took a few cautious steps forward, appearing by her side and putting his paw on her shaking shoulder.

“This is why I can’t stay here,” she said, her voice trembling. Her aura, her raw emotion, was overwhelmingly powerful, but Xavier fought the urge to step away. “Everything reminds me of him!”

“I know,” Xavier said, hardly louder than a whisper. Riley’s fists were clenched hard, and by the moonlight he could see tears rolling down her snout and dripping into the sand below. He’d only ever seen her cry once before, when it first dawned on them that Everest wasn’t going to make it, and it was every bit as jarring as it was now.

She heaved a stuttering sigh and bent down so her arms could reach her eyes. “Sorry. This isn’t…I can’t break down now.”

“There’s no shame in it,” Xavier said. As if he could blame her for hurting—as if he himself wasn’t.

“You even sound like him.” Riley shook her head a little but lifted it, turning back to the sea. “I’m…I probably never said this enough back when it really mattered, but…I’m proud of you. I’ve never been so proud of anyone in my life, Xavier. Whatever you choose to do with your life after this, I’m sure you’ll be the greatest.”

Xavier smiled on instinct—praise from Riley was rare, it always had been—but it wasn’t enough to make him forget that she was leaving, forever. “Thanks, Riley.”

“Take some pride in yourself, huh?” She reached out and poked him in the chest with a claw. “You exceeded our expectations from day one. Not only were you able to keep up with Team Forestfire in our heyday, you were an integral part of it. I’m telling you, if you wanted to make a team of your own, people would fall over themselves trying to impress you.”

“That means a lot coming from you, but…” Now Xavier turned toward the ocean, watching the frothing waves for a moment. “I don’t think I want to found a team. You may not think so, but…I’m getting old too. I’d really only be in the game for a few more years…don’t think it’s worth it. I thought I might just…travel the world for a while. See what else there is beyond these horizons. You know?”

Riley was quiet for a while. But Xavier knew her well enough to know that if she was upset, she’d have exploded in that way fire-types tended to. Finally she nodded, as tranquil as ever.

“Never thought about it that way. See, this is why I’m glad you didn’t take after me. You have the common sense not to push yourself too hard.” She turned to him, jabbing him in the abdomen this time. “You are not allowed to do anything stupid, you hear me? Take care of yourself first and foremost. Be happy and be safe.”

Before Xavier could reply, he was crushed against her scaly chest, her arms wrapped around him in a hug. She never embraced anyone like this, not even Everest…she smelled faintly of cinders and the straw of the beds in the team base. He couldn’t reach around her body to hug her back, but he tried, mindful of the steel spikes that jutted out the backs of each of his paws. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to internalize this, knowing it would never happen again.

When he opened his eyes, he found that the fur around them was wet.

Riley stepped back, giving him a legitimate, if watery, smile. “I think…I think it’s time.” She nodded to the pounding waves. “I hope that…whatever you end up doing, it brings you as much joy as you brought me. Us. And maybe…maybe we’ll see each other again soon. The three of us. Until then…”

Something had snaked its way around Xavier’s throat, choking him so he could barely speak. But he swallowed hard, loosening it enough to whisper, “Goodbye, Riley…”

“Don’t think of this as ‘goodbye’ as much as it is ‘see you later.’” Riley offered him a smile, though the shimmering of her eyes spoke much louder than her words did. “Take care, Xavier. I’ll…I’ll miss you. But I promise we’ll meet again.”

She spread her wings. Xavier stepped back as she beat them hard, slowly lifting off the ground. Then she was off, across the water, gaining height as she went. Xavier watched the flame on her tail, a light against the darkness of the sky, shrink and shrink until it had seemingly vanished over the horizon. And he stayed on the beach until the sun chased away the last of the stars, emerging from the ocean to cast its warm light over the land. He couldn’t have slept alone in the team base.

The light of dawn followed him as he rose, brushing sand out of his fur. He crept through the nearby Treasure Town, where other Pokemon were beginning to stir and prepare their businesses for the day. In the safety of the former team base, he stuffed a bag with everything he could get his paws on—money, food, reviver seeds just in case. The things worth keeping but that he couldn’t fit into the bag, he left upstairs for someone who was more in need. The rest he tossed out of the Sharpedo’s gaping mouth and into the sea.

Riley was right, he realized. If he’d returned to the shore through Treasure Town, he was sure he’d be stopped and interrogated. Where was he going, where was Riley, so sorry about Everest—he shook his head with a grimace. So he skirted his hometown, sneaking away without a word, just as she had done.

Lapras was waiting for him on the beach—a descendant of the Lapras who knew the way to the Hidden Land. He knew she’d be here, she was nearly every day, following in the footsteps of her late father.

“Good to see you again,” she said, offering him a calm smile that he tried but failed to return. Back in the day, she sometimes watched him as he honed his skills on the beach. The two of them talked a lot, he about his adventures with the team, and she about the legends that had been passed down along her family for generations. “Going somewhere?”

“Yes,” he said, wincing at how exhausted he sounded. “I’m sure you know what happened…I don’t feel like talking about it. I need to go somewhere away from here. Anywhere.”

Her aura radiated curiosity, and it pricked at him like the needles of a pine tree, but she asked no questions and instead bowed her head in solemn understanding. “I know of a place,” she said. “It’s a ways north. They call it the air continent. A few busy towns here and there, but it’s overall rather quiet.”

“Sounds perfect,” he said with a weak smile. Lapras nodded as he stepped into the water, climbing onto her back among the blunt horns that stuck out of her shell.

“We’re off, then,” she said as she pushed herself into the waves. “I hope this journey brings you the peace you seek.”

The sun had barely reached its highest point in the sky. It was a cloudless day and the ocean was gentle. Xavier stared, listening to the water cut against Lapras’s body and letting its motion rock him.

“Yeah,” he said at last. “Me too.”


End file.
